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President Donald Trump has named Secretary of State Marco Rubio as his national security adviser, making permanent a dual role Rubio has held on an acting basis since May 2025.
A White House spokesperson confirmed to the Washington Examiner that Trump signed a commission appointing Rubio to the position. The White House did not clarify when Trump signed the commission.
Rubio assumed the role on May 1, 2025, after then-national security adviser Michael Waltz was tapped to become the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Waltz’s departure came weeks after he was involved in a controversial incident in which a journalist was inadvertently added to a Signal group chat where senior administration officials were discussing military strikes on the Houthis in Yemen.
As national security adviser, Rubio oversees the National Security Council staff and advises Trump on foreign policy, intelligence, and defense matters while coordinating the administration’s national security policy.
The dual assignment gives Rubio an unusually expansive role in the Trump administration’s “America First” foreign policy agenda, as he simultaneously leads the State Department and serves as the president’s top national security adviser.
Rubio is only the second person in U.S. history to hold the positions of secretary of state and national security adviser simultaneously. The first was Henry Kissinger, who held both positions under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford in the 1970s. Kissinger served as national security adviser beginning in 1969 and became secretary of state in 1973, holding both positions until November 1975.
Other prominent officials, including Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice, have held both positions during their careers, but not simultaneously.
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At one point, Rubio held four simultaneous titles in the Trump administration, serving as acting U.S. Agency for International Development administrator and acting archivist of the United States on top of his dual foreign policy and national security roles. Rubio handed over USAID responsibilities to Russ Vought in August 2025 and delegated his archivist role to James Byron in February 2026.
Rubio has also been floated as a contender for the 2028 Republican presidential nomination. Trump has previously described Vice President JD Vance and Rubio as a presidential “dream team,” but stopped short of endorsing either candidate. Rubio has publicly denied any plans to run in 2028.
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[ H/T Washington Examiner ]
